Your's Web Tech Power Blog's: Dec 21, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Pinoky brings stuffed animals to life!
LightPad turns the smartphone into a tablet
Gigantic projected pinball machine for the Festival of Lights
Ben Heck comes up with an accessible controller
C Spire offers Sonim XP 3400 Armor ultra-rugged mobile phone
Spider Catcher helps you conquer arachnophobia

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 06:30 AM PST

Bringing stuff animals to life can either be cute, like in Mary Poppins, or horrifying, like in Akira.

The Pinoky is really nothing more than a claw with a magnetic grip which has the power to shake a part of stuffed animal. This includes an arm, a leg, or, if you are a snake, the whole body.

I will let you decide what the effect of the Pinoky is, but there is a video after the jump if you want to see it for yourself.

The Pinoky is designed by Yuti Sugiura, as a project of Keio University. I’m not certain if the end product is to make something therapeutic, or if someone really is trying to make stuffed animals wave. If so, it looks pretty fake, as I can see the Pinoky claw!

As you can see from the video, the Pinoky can be programmed to record a certain movement. There can even be a remote control, as well as accelerometer motion in place as well.

So, are we in for a Pinoky future? Will every teddy bear be wearing a Pinoky cuff soon, just so we can get them to wave? Well, I suppose that we will see, but I personally see a cool toy commercial for the Pinoky as soon as this is marketed.

Source

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[ Pinoky brings stuffed animals to life! copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

LightPad turns the smartphone into a tablet

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 06:15 AM PST

What you are seeing here is the LightPad from QP Optoelectronics, and it is designed to turn the smartphone into something more tablet-sized.

Why would anyone want this? Have you ever done something on your smartphone that is so much easier to do on a laptop or tablet? I don’t even like sending text messages because I can’t stand touchscreen keyboards. Fortunately, the LightPad has a keyboard attachment.

There is a video after the jump if you want to see how it works, and the display that you see here is a projector with a 854 x 480 resolution for an 11-inch screen.

Future models of this will have the same size display but with 1280 x 720 resolution. I’m not certain if the present model will have this feature, but the projector can be turned around to create a 60 inch display on the wall.

I am surprised that the LightPad is one of the first products of its type, as HDMI cable seems to be only good for playing videos and viewing photos from a smartphone. I want to see my entire smartphone screen on my HDTV, not certain apps.

This LightPad will make an appearance at CES in January, and, assuming I have time and can conveniently pass their booth, I will be glad to try it out.

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ LightPad turns the smartphone into a tablet copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Gigantic projected pinball machine for the Festival of Lights

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST

There is nothing that I love more this time a year then giant, overly elaborate Christmas light displays. Someone at the Festival of Lights 2011 in Lyon has created a light display that can be used all years.

The reason why is because this display is a giant pinball machine, which will always be in season, even though the fad peaked at least thirty years ago.

There is a video after the jump if you want to see it in motion, but my source doesn’t tell me how it was all rigged up. The flippers look projected on there, and I would imagine that the rest of the lights were actually fixed up like neon.

This Urban Flipper is designed by Carol Martin and Thibaut Berbezier, and it covers the Celestins theater. There is some serious 3D mapping technology on this facade, which seems to be made for a big pinball machine. It makes me wonder what other buildings can be made into giant pinball machines. How about the Notre Dame cathedral? Is that too much?

I have no idea how long this display will be on display, or how much it costs to play it. Something tells me it is more than a quarter.

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Gigantic projected pinball machine for the Festival of Lights copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Ben Heck comes up with an accessible controller

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 05:30 AM PST

I would say that many of us become jaded in life, taking things for granted instead with what we have, as we start to look around and complain about what we do not have. Some folks do not murmur or mutter, they just go ahead with life and make sure that they work hard and smart for what they eventually want to achieve. For folks who own at least one video game console, have you given a thought to how some other people want to play the games that you do, but simply cannot because of their physical limitations? A teacher from New Jersey sent in a request to modder extraordinary, Ben Heck, to develop an accessible controller for a student living with Pompe disease, which is a neuromuscular disorder that causes muscle weakness.

This condition basically means 13-year-old Patrick Crowley is unable to play with the standard video game console controllers simply because he lacks the muscle power to do so, but thanks to the teacher’s request and Ben Heck’s amazing hardware wizardry, he managed to conjure up an accessible controller that enables Patrick to play video games which require complex button sequences, where among the titles would include X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Ben mentioned, "When I first decided to take on this request from a show fan, I didn't know the Crowley family's story and the incredible journey they've led to help their children and others living with Pompe disease. This was an interesting project to work on from a technical perspective and I am extremely humbled by the chance to create a tool that helps Patrick enjoy one of his favorite pastimes."

In order to conjure up this bit of Christmas magic, Ben developed a breakout box that sports eight input switches which will function as the interpretation layer between the Xbox 360 controller and simplified controls. Ben further explained on how signals will travel from the Xbox controller button to the game itself, and also showed viewers on his show the relevant steps required to make this accessible controller. Interesting stuff, and I am quite sure that Patrick will be having a really fun Christmas, thanks to the heart of a teacher and the man behind the modifications, Ben Heck. Isn’t it heart warming to hear of stories like these during the holiday season? There is hope in humanity yet.

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Ben Heck comes up with an accessible controller copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

C Spire offers Sonim XP 3400 Armor ultra-rugged mobile phone

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST

Do you own a pair of hands that suffer from a particularly bad bout of butterfingers? If the answer is in the affirmative, then you might want to look into what C Spire has in store for folks like you (and me, I’ve dropped my phone a fair number of times, only to to break the display of my HTC Desire S most recently), in the form of the Sonim XP 3400 Armor ultra-rugged mobile phone. Yes sir, this is an all-weather, all action handset that will be able to hang out in the toughest of environments, even when you start to wilt from all the hard labor and heat, the Sonim XP 3400 Armor will continue chugging on as usual.

Apart from being one tough cookie, this little puppy will also come with the speed and reliability of mobile broadband to offer a highly reliable lifeline for those who ply their trade in the harshest of environments, such as farmers, being on an oil rig, construction and utility workers, law enforcement, fire protection and other service industry employees. After receiving feedback from more than 500,000 users who perform difficult jobs in some of the most challenging conditions, Sonim engineers have come up with the XP 3400 Armor, where it has been engineered to exceed military-grade specifications for toughness.

Just how tough a nut is this to crack? It is completely dust-proof, is water submersible to 6.5 feet for up to an hour (!), and it has been tested to drop up to 6.5 feet of concrete without suffering a cracked display, thanks to a 1.5mm thick scratch and shock resistant Corning Gorilla glass lens that protects the bright, two-inch high-resolution display. Apart from that, the body of the XP 3400 Armor also boasts of a combination of hardened rubber molded into a reinforced fiberglass casing.

It is also certified against salt, fog, humidity, transport shock, thermal shock and operates in temperatures ranging from -5° F to 130° F. No longer must your heart suffer from a shock whenever you drop the office supplied phone – heck, dropping this into the porcelain throne is not an issue, you just need to gather the guts to pick it up and remove it from all the murky water. Other hardware specifications include a 2-megapixel camera with extra bright LED flash and video recording, an omni-directional, noise-cancelling microphone, a microSD memory card slot, an integrated FM radio, a media player and widely spaced keys. Expect it to retail for just $49.99 after a $50 reward card and agreeing to a new two-year contract.

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[ C Spire offers Sonim XP 3400 Armor ultra-rugged mobile phone copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Spider Catcher helps you conquer arachnophobia

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 04:30 AM PST

“An itsy bitsy spider, crawled up the water spout…”, or so the popular nursery rhyme goes. If you hate these 8-legged creatures due to the webs that they leave behind, perhaps you might want to think twice before smashing them to bits and pieces with a fly swatter – after all, they do help keep the pesky insect population in check. To catch a spider might freak some of you out – so why not get some help from the £9.99 Spider Catcher?

This gadget comprises of a long pole alongside a handle and spiny bristles at the end. When you pull the trigger, the bristles will open, and when the trigger is released, the bristles will close – this particular mechanism will enable you to capture any of those spiders around the home, all without causing any harm to them. Once they’re safely captured, you will be able to release them outdoors in a safe manner. It works great for wasps, bees and other stinging insects as well.